“Then we’d better learn,” said Aliyat, “better than before, how to share.”
34
The ships departed, Pytheas and friend. For a while, some months, until speeds grew too high, word went between them, imagery, love; rites celebrated the mysteries of community and communion; for everywhere around them thronged suns.
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
Hanno and Svoboda stood in the darkened command center, looking out. Through clasped hands they felt each other’s nearness and warmth. “Is this why we were born?” she whispered.
“We’ll make it be,” he promised.
Chronology
EXCEPT FOR the first, all dates are Anno Domini. Each is the year in which its chapter begins. Occasionally the narrative thereafter moves forward or backward in time.
I. Thule: 310 B.C.
II. The Peaches of Forever: 19
III. The Comrade: 359
IV. Death in Palmyra: 641
V. No Man Shuns His Doom: 998
VI. Encounter: 1050
VII. The Same Kind: 1072
VIII. Lady in Waiting: 1221
IX. Ghosts: 1239
X. In the Hills: 1570
XI. The Kitten and the Cardinaclass="underline" 1640
XII. The Last Medicine: 1710
XIII. Follow the Drinking Gourd: 1855
XIV. Men of Peace: 1872
XV. Coming Together: 1931
XVI. Niche: 1938
XVII. Steeclass="underline" 1942
XVIII. Judgment Day: 1975
XIX. Thule: ?
Glossary
Chinese names are transcribed according to the Wade-Giles system. This probably remains somewhat more familiar to Anglophone readers than Pinyin or Yale, and is no more inaccurate a rendition of ancient or regional pronunciations.
Armorica: Brittany.
Berytus: Beirut.
Bravellir: Probably near modern Norrkoping, Sweden.
Britannia: England and Wales.
Burdigala: Bordeaux.
Ch’ang-an: Near modern Sian (Pinyin “Xian”).
Constantinople: Istanbul.
Damasek: Damascus.
Dumnonia: Cornwall and Devon.
Duranius: The River Dordogne.
Emesa: Horns.
Falemia: An area in the region of Naples, anciently noted for its wines.
Gadeira: Cadiz (Lathi “Gades,” Semitic “Agadir”).
Gallia: Gaul, France with parts of Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland.
Gardhariki: Western Russia.
Garumna: The River Garonne.
Gauiland: Southern Sweden, apparently between Scania and Lake Vanern.
Hetan-kyo: Kyoto.
Hleidhra: Lejre, in Denmark.
Khalep: Aleppo.
Kiyiv: Kiev.
Lakota: Dakota (Sioux).
Lugdunensis: A province in Gaul, comprising most of north-em and a fair portion of central France.
Lugdunum: Lyons.
Makkah: Mecca.
Massalia: Marseilles (Latin “Massilia”).
Medinat Rasul Allah: Medina.
Nidharos: Trondheim, in Norway.
Pariki: Pawnee.
Peking: Beijing.
Poitou: Former French province, now divided into the departments of La Vend6e, Deux-Sevres, and Vienne.
Pretania: Britain, including Scotland.
Sor: Tyre.
Stalingrad: Volgograd.
Syria: A province of the Roman (later the East Roman or Byzantine) Empire, approximately the same as the modern country.
Tadmor: Palmyra, in Syria.
Tartessos: Southwestern Iberia (conjectural).
Thule: Southern Norway (conjectural).
Tripolis: Tripoli, in Lebanon, also known anciently as “Tarabulus.”
Wendiand: A region bordering on the southern Baltic shores.
Wichita mountains: in southwestern Oklahoma.
Yathrib: Original name of Medina.